Euro Crisis Mires Continent in Longest Slump Since War

The euro-zone debt crisis has mutated into Europe's longest slump of the postwar era, with no recovery in sight for a broad swath of the continent.

Continuing government austerity, banks that can't or won't lend and heavy household debts are weighing on many countries. Weak business surveys are challenging official predictions, including from the European Central Bank, that growth will return this year.